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no doubt that the success with which this milk has been pre.served is due to the particular care which the purveyorstake to first free the milk from suspended impurities-whichinclude dirt from the udder, legs, and skin of the cow, orfrom the hands of milkers, and probably dry particles of

dung and dust from the stables-by screening it in a specialmanner. This precaution is certain to exclude many agencieswhich excite unfavourable changes in milk, leading to sour-ness and putrefaction. The quality of the two specimensmay be gathered from the following results of our analysis :-New sample: Specific gravity, 1031; total solids, 12’26 percent. ; fat, 3’50 per cent. ; non-fatty solids, 8’76 per cent. ; -,ash, 0’78 per cent. Sample six months old: Specificgravity, 1032 ; total solids, 11’86 per cent. ; fat, 2-70 percent.; non-fatty solids, 9’16 per cent. ; ash, 0’68 per cent.Thus, while of fair average quality, these specimens may betrusted as free from the objectionable contamination to

which ordinary milk is constantly being exposed.

RADNOR (QUEBEC) SPRINGS MINERAL WATER.

(RADNOR WATER Co., NEW YORK LIFE BUILDING, MONTREAL, CANADA.A8EXTS: CUXNIN8HAM, SHAW, AND Co., 21, WATER-STREET, ,

LIVERPOOL.)The Radnor spring was discovered two years ago, during a

search for a source of drinking-supply for the use of workmenconnected with a large iron foundry. Eventually water wasstruck at a great depth, after encountering a hard gneissrocky slab 100 feet in thickness. It proved to be under con-siderable pressure, since a 4-inch stream was projected some4 feet into the air, the force proving sufficient to drive it to a considerable distance along the service-pipes to the town.Its composition presents some points of interest. The salineconstituents are chiefly common salt (100 grains per gallon),sulphate of magnesia (8’5 grains per gallon), and bicarbonateof soda (14’7 grains per gallon). It also contains 22 grains ofcarbonate of lime in solution in carbonic acid,. the total solidmatters amounting to 167’16 grains per gallon. Bromide ofsodium occurs in very distinct quantity, the water turningquite yellowish-brown when chlorine water is added to it.The liberated bromine may be readily extracted with chloro-form. The water is brilliant, pleasantly sparkling, and ofmild saline taste, and is entitled to rank with the well-knownwaters of the alkaline carbonated and saline type, which areuseful as beverages in cases of acidity and likely to serveas a diuretic and mild aperient when taken freely.

ROLLED OATS (ROYAL STANDARD BRAND).

(JOHN INGLIS AND SONS, LEITH, MIDLOTHIAN. AGENTS : JOHNALEXANDER AND Co., 61, MARK-IANE, E.C.)

These consist of oats uattened nto thin flakes and sub-mitted to a new process by which the starch is partlytorrefled, a mode of treatment that is said to prevent thedevelopment of that bitter flavour which is a well-known

objectionable feature of oatmeal that has been kept for some time. This treatment, coupled with the rolling process, addsvery materially to the digestive properties of this, the mostnutritious, cereal. A porridge made with this preparationpossessed a fine, rich, oaten flavour. It affords an excellentand highly nourishing article of diet.

THE NOKFOLK EMULSION OF COD-LIVER OIL WITHHYPOPHOSPHITES.

(J. ROBINSON AND Co., 13, ORFORD-HILL, NORWICH.) ’,This preparation presents the appearance of a perfectly I

uniform emulsion when examined with the microscope. Itcontains no alkali, but, on the contrary, is slightly acid totest paper. It is free from the repulsive taste of cod-liveroil, which has been skilfully disguised by the selection andcareful addition of aromatic substances. Its value, of course,is enhanced by the addition of hypophosphites, the presenceof which we had no difficulty in confirming.

New Inventions.

THE KIESOW PATENT SAFETY LAMP.

In the report of THE LANCET Analytical and SanitaryCommission on Dangerous Paraffin Lamps, which appearedin our issue of Jan. 4th, 1896, there was described a

safety hand lamp costing 62d. (No. 18 in the report) whichwas found by our Commissioners to be on sale at most of theoil shops visited by them. Although this lamp was reportedas safe, our Commissioners were led to recommend some

slight modifications in its construction which, in their

opinion, would make it as secure against accident as aparaffin lamp could possibly be. We have since learned thatthese structural improvements had already occurred to themakers, Messrs. Kiesow and Co., of 25, Fore-street-avenue,who have recently placed these improved lamps on the marketin accordance with the conditions of safety set forth in thereport. First and foremost, this lamp is provided with awick tube projecting nearly to the bottom of the reservoir,and, further, the wick tube, being S-shaped, acts as a safetytrap when the lighted lamp is upset (see illustration, Fig. 1),

and oil cannot possibly escape ; the flame simply and quietlygoes out. In the earlier pattern of this hand-lamp, as withthe one examined by our Commission, the base, as waspointed out, was too small in comparison with the size of thereservoir; it is now much broader, and the chance of the lampbeing upset by trivial occurrences is small. The joint con.necting the burner to the reservoir, although not a screw,is, we think, an effective and safe one. It differs in a veryimportant detail from the ordinary bayonet catch. The smallmetal clamps, which grip a projecting collar in the mouth ofthe reservoir, turn in a perfectly horizontal direction, and ina turn of about two-thirds of an inch the burner is madequite secure, a small notch serving to prevent the joint beingturned too far. The mouth of the reservoir to which theburner is thus firmly attached is made in one piece, and isproduced by a series of ingenious " stampings" from a singledisc of metal. The ordinary bayonet catch of many lampswas condemned by our Commission because these catchesor pins were found to turn in an upward direction along andbeneath a fixed soldered wire in an inclined plane. The

tendency of these catches is, therefore, to slide back

again, especially when they are oily, so that theburner is readily detached when the lamp is tilted-anoccurrence which actually happened in one experiment withanother lamp described in the report of our Commission.The Kiesow safety lamp, therefore, as it is now modelled,fulfils all the requirements of a safe lamp so far as ourexperiments go, and it cannot be too widely known that sucha lamp can be purchased for so moderate a sum as 62d, atthe common oil shops. It should be added that table-lampsof the same safe construction are made at prices within thereach of the poorer amongst us. Fig. 2 represents such alamp, costing (retail) ls. 9d. Lamps of the same type, but ofhigher finish, are also procurable at correspondingly higherprices, as from 4s. to 6s., whilst the makers will soon beprepared to place a duplex lamp in the market the wicks ofwhich will be provided with a double S-tube. It should be theduty of the London County Council, we venture to think, tostamp lamps-which, like the one just described, are safe-

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with some mark which shall afford the public a guaranteethat they are using a lamp which is as far as possible freefrom danger. - I

A NEW URETHRAL SYRINGE.

THE obstinacy and relapsing character of urethral dis-

charges, in spite of the very numerous drugs which have fromtime to time been used, each highly vaunted in its day, butonly to fall into desuetude after a time, help to convince methat it is not the medicament which is so much at fault as itsmode of application. No surgeon should disparage a druguntil he sees personally how it is used and how long in con-tact with diseased parts. A drug is efficacious not so muchin proportion to its strength as to its length of application.In the case in point strong astringent lotions do more harmthan good by coagulating the albuminous substances on andin the mucous membrane, thus building, as it were, a fortressabove and around a micro-organism itself more resistantthan the membrane on which it exists, and, moreover,

inclined to extend to the papillary layer at the earliest stagesof urethritis. The accompanying illustration represents a

syringe which I know will prove to be more useful than the

ordinary form. Only one person in 100, perhaps, knowshow to inject properly with the latter. Its nozzle is ill-

shaped, and its piston never fits uniformly, so that, firstly, thefluid injected escapes prematurely, and, secondly, even ifthe piston fits, the urethra is so suddenly distended by thejump of it as to create irritation. The meatus (and part ofthe urethra behind it) is a vertical slit varying in size. Thenozzle of the syringe I beg to introduce to the profession ishence oblong in transverse section, and is conical ; it will,therefore, fit and plug any urethra, nor need the lips of thelatter be pressed around it. The fluid is in contact with glassonly, hence it is always aseptic. I direct the syringe to beused by holding the flange between any two fingers, whilst thethumb of the same hand presses on the elastic ball. Withthe idea of prolonging the application of the medicament Iam experimenting with a clip to hold the lips of the meatustogether, so that possibly the patient may go about for atime retaining the solution in his urethra. The syringe isneatly made for me by Messrs. Arnold and Sons, and can, ofcourse, have any capacity.Finsbury-pavement, E.C. JAMES MACMUNN.JAMES MACMUNN.

THE

VACANCY IN THE GENERAL MEDICALCOUNCIL FOR A DIRECT REPRE-

SENTATIVE FOR IRELAND.

THIS contest continues to excite a large amount of interestand attention. As a matter of impartiality we subjoincommunications from our various correspondents.Our Dublin correspondent writes :-Considerable interest is still being shown in Dublin and

elsewhere in the candidature for the direct representation ofIreland on the General Medical Council, although the timefixed for the election has been indefinitely postponed. Dr.Heard, who has filled the office of Registrar of the Irish BranchCouncil for many years, has recently resigned, and, pendingthe appointment of his successor, the arrangements for

filling the vacancy on the General Medical Council havebeen delayed. A meeting of the Irish Central Counties’Medical Association was held at Mullingar on Friday, the10th, when the following resolution was carried :-Resolved-That we, the members of the Central Counties’ Medical

Association of Ireland, considering that we, the provincial medical menof Ireland, should be represented on the General Medical Council by amember of our profession disassociated from the medical schools ofDublin or Belfast, and representative of our own interests, do supportthe candidature of Dr. MacDonnell, of Dundalk, who has already

gained the confidence of his medical brethren while President of theIrish Medical Association.

Our Belfast correspondent says :-Dr. Cuming’s candidature is making most satisfactory pro-

gress, and already over 360 medical men have joined hisgeneral committee. This is all the more remarkable as hewas late in the field and did not canvass before Dr. Kidd’sdeath. It is now quite apparent that Dr. Cuming is thestrong provincial candidate, and that, as his executive com-mittee state in their circular, " a favourable opportunitynow exists of wresting the representation from a metropolitancandidate." It is understood that the Londonderry (north-west) branch of the British Medical Association at their latemeeting passed a resolution pledging the members to vote fora provincial candidate.From our Cork correspondent we have received the

following :-The election of a direct representative on the General

Medical Council is looked forward to with considerableinterest in Cork and surrounding districts, especially as it ishoped that an energetic representative may influence theCouncil in taking some action with regard to certain medicalpractitioners who do not hesitate to put themselves in opposi-tion to the bulk of the profession in their fight with the clubs-a fight which many consider is absolutely essential to themaintenance of the dignity of the profession to which we allbelong. There is also a very decided opinion that the repre-sentative should be some gentleman resident in the provinces,as all the other representatives reside in Dublin, and it hasbeen felt that the tendency to centralise in the metropolisall medical appointments of honour and emolument hasworked unfairly to the larger body of capable provincialpractitioners. In this connexion it may be pointed out thatDublin monopolises an entirely disproportionate number ofexaminerships of the Royal University. There is surely not avery great disparity in the number of medical studentsfrom Cork and Dublin presenting themselves for the degreesof the Royal University, yet there are only three medicalexaminers from Cork, whilst Dublin has as many as fifteen.The senate of the Royal University appoints the examiners,and the great majority of the senators reside in Dublin or itsvicinity. It is well known that a distinguished representativeof England on the General Medical Council considers thissubject to be one worthy of the attention of the Council inthe interests of medical education ; it is not surprising, then,that the members of the profession in the south of Irelandhave taken active measures for the purpose of securing thereturn of a representative who would be prepared to supportprovincial interests, and a meeting was held last Saturdayfor the purpose of discussing the whole question. It was

generally recognised that a Dublin candidate would be sureto win if the three provincial candidates should persist ingoing to the poll, and it was considered very desirablethat some means should be adopted by which two of thethree should be induced to retire. The following resolutions,which speak for themselves, were unanimously adopted, andthere is every reason to believe that the prudence of thecourse suggested will commend itself to each of the pro-vincial candidates. It was resolved :—

1. "That in the opinion of this meeting a direct representative ofthe profession in Ireland should be chosen from the provincial practi-tioners, inasmuch as we believe Dublin is already fully represented onthe Council through its universities and colleges. We therefore pledgeourselves to support a provincial candidate."

2. " That this meeting is of opinion that it is most undesirable forthree provincial candidates to go to the poll, and with this view wecall on the three provincial candidates to decide by a preliminaiv pollwhich will have the greatest number of promises, and that we pl(’tigeourselves to vote for the candidate who obtains the greates amo.nt ofsunport."

3. " That we request the medical practitioners of the city and countyof Cork not to pledge their votes until a single provincial candidate hubeen selected by a preliminary poll."